San Diego Welcomes First Baby Born in 2019

Minutes after we counted down to zero, at 12:04 a.m. to be exact, the first baby born in the county in 2019 arrived.

By Danny Freeman•Published January 1, 2019•Updated on January 2, 2019 at 4:19 am

While some of us were out ringing in the New Year, a San Diego woman was birthing the first baby born in the county in 2019.

Minutes after we counted down to zero, at 12:04 a.m. to be exact, Elizabeth Morales brought her fourth little girl into the world at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista. What made the birth even more exciting is that her record-setting delivery came two weeks ahead of schedule.

The only thing on Morales’s mind Monday evening was what she was going to eat for dinner. After settling for lasagna, the mother of three experienced the telltale signs that number four was on the way.

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“My water broke at 3:30 p.m. and we got here at 4:30 p.m.,” Morales said from her hospital bed, with all 7 pounds and 14 ounces of her hours-old Ainhara Banos in her arms.

Elizabeth Retts, Director of Maternal Child Health at Scripps Mercy, was almost as excited about Ainhara’s birth as Morales and her family.

“ I was excited when I heard about it this morning, so I'm like, ‘Oh, I want to be there to congratulate them!” she said. “I've been doing this for over 30 years and I still get goose bumps every time a baby's born.”

Morales said her little one cried for most of the morning and tuckered out just before and NBC 7 crew arrived to meet her.

As for Ainhara's older sisters, there are mixed feelings.

“They wanted a boy,” Morales said laughing. “They wanted a boy but the little one is so happy because she wanted a baby girl, she's waiting for her.”

Morales said Ainhara is in good health and she’ll be able to take her home on Wednesday.